WITH THAT MAN DRIVING AWAY IN A BLACK DODGE DURANGO. LOCAL 2 INVESTIGATES IS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR GOVERNMENT WASTE. WE'VE DISCOVERED A TEXAS POLITICIAN WHO IS USING THE STATE PRIVATE PLANE AS HIS OWN PERSONAL TAXI. LARSEN DISCOVERED YOU'RE PAYING FOR ALL OF THIS. FOR MOST OF US, FLYING IS A HASSLE. SO WHAT IF YOU COULD TRADE ALL OF THIS FOR THIS. IT'S WHAT WE DISCOVERED THIS MAN DID, STATE SENATOR KEVIN -- HE FLEW THE STATE'S PRIVATE PLANE FROM AUSTIN TO HIS HOME IN TYLER 26 TIMES. THE COST TO TAXPAYERS SINCE 2011, MORE THAN $28,000. HIS TRIPS DON'T FLY WITH THIS LONG TIME BARBER. OR SOME OF THE SENATORS' CONSTITUENTS. IT'S NOT A GOOD USE OF TAXPAYER MONEY. LOCAL 2 INVESTIGATES COMBED THROUGH HIS RECORDS. THE SENATOR IS THE ONLY ELECTED OFFICIAL WITH SO MANY FLIGHTS HOME. HIS BILL FOR HIS TRIPS ACTUALLY EXCEEDED $60,000. HE AND HIS CAMPAIGN REPAID A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF OF THAT AMOUNT. AND THE TEXAS SENATE FUNDED BY YOUR TAX MONEY PICKED UP THE REST. EVERY PUBLIC DOLLAR SHOULD BE SPENT AS WISELY AS WE SPEND OUR OWN DOLLARS. PEGGY LEADS THE TEXAS CHAPTER OF THE CONSERVATIVE GROUP AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY. I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE TO FLY IN A PRIVATE PLANE ANY SENATOR TO AND FROM THEIR HOME DISTRICT ON A REGULAR BASIS. I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT THE PLANE POOL IS REALLY FOR. HE HIMSELF HAS EVEN TALKED ABOUT THE NEED TO SAVE MONEY. WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY WE USED TO HAVE AND IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER ANY TIME SOON. SO WE'LL HAVE TO LIVE WITHIN OUR MEANS. SO WHY IS HE KICKING BACK HERE WHEN OTHER INVESTIGATORS ARE CHOOSING COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS OR SOMETIMES JUST JUMPING IN THEIR CAR AND DRIVING. WE HEADED TO HIS HOME DISTRICT IN TYLER TO FIND OUT. NO ANSWERS AT HIS LEGISLATIVE OFFICE. WE NEXT HEADED TO HIS HOUSE AND IT'S A NICE ONE. THE GARAGE IS OPEN HERE. SENATOR, HELLO. NO LUCK HERE EITHER. WE TRIED TO GET THE SENATOR TO ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS BECAUSE WE THOUGHT YOU DESERVED ANTI SWERS. IN THE END HE WOULD ONLY SAY HE THOUGHT IT WAS PERFECTLY OKAY. HE SAYS HE'S JUST COSTING FUEL AND MAINTENANCE. NOTHING HE'S DOING IS AGAINST THE LAW. AND HE SAYS HOME USES THE PLANE WHEN HE CAN'T FLY COMMERCIAL, LIKE WHEN THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION GETS OUT LATE IN THE EVENING. AT THE BARBERSHOP, THESE PEOPLE THINK THE PRIVATE PLANE TAKEOFFS SHOULD STOP. THE DRIVE IS NOT THAT BAD. I MADE IT MYSELF FROM AUSTIN OVER HERE. THAT PLANE IS FOR STATE EMPLOYEES ON STATE BUSINESS. MOST TIMES, THE SENATOR WAS THE ONLY PASSENGER ON THE PLANE. AFTER FLYING HIM FROM AUSTIN TO TYLER, PLANE USUALLY TURNED AROUND AND WENT RIGHT BACK TO AUSTIN WITHOUT ANY PASSENGERS ON-BOARD. WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. SEND ME A MESSAGE ON TWITTER OR

HOUSTON -

Local 2 Investigates has discovered State Senator Kevin Eltife used a state aircraft a total of 26 times in 2011 and 2013 to fly from Austin to his home in Tyler when the legislative week ended.

The total cost to taxpayers was $28,731.

“Every dollar should be spent wisely. We get in the habit of saying, ‘Oh that’s just pocket change,’ and if the legislature gets in the habit of thinking that, suddenly it adds up to billions,” said Peggy Venable, the Texas director of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity.

Local 2 Investigates reviewed Texas Department of Transportation records for the state’s private plane fleet. The planes are made available to state officials, employees or sponsored contractors traveling on official state business. Eltife did not violate that rule, according to TxDOT.

Eltife was often the only passenger on the small prop plane with only a handful of seats. The plane and its pilots are based in Austin, so after flying Eltife to Tyler the planes often flew back to Austin without any passengers on aboard.

Eltife is the only elected official to use the private plane to get home frequently.

The cost is raising questions from some taxpayer watchdogs.

“I don’t think it’s the responsibility of the state to fly, in a private plane, any senator to and from their home district, on any kind of regular basis. I don’t think that’s what the plane is really for,” Venable said. “Every public dollar should be spent as wisely as we spend our own dollars.”

In a forum at University of Texas at Tyler in 2012, Eltife, a Republican, talked about the need to conserve taxpayer money.

“We do not have the money we used to have and it’s not going to get better anytime soon,” he said. “We’re going to have to live within our means.”

The flights cost a total cost of $60,573. Eltife reimbursed the state using non-taxpayer generated funds from campaign money for about half of each trip, but taxpayers picked up the remaining cost.

“It’s not a good use of taxpayer money,” Daniel Espindola, of Tyler, said. Espindola lives in Eltife’s senate district. “The drive is not that bad. I’ve made it myself from Austin over here. You don’t need to use a private jet or taxpayer money to do so.”

Eltife told Local 2 Investigates’ Jace Larson that he only uses the plane when he cannot fly commercial. He also pointed out that the state already owns the airplanes and pays pilots’ salaries regardless of when they fly. Eltife acknowledged his flights do cost taxpayers fuel and maintenance.

His chief of staff explained the senator’s point of view.

“Let’s say he is going home for the weekend, but we don’t know if he will be able to leave Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon, Friday morning or Friday afternoon. Commercial air service to and from Tyler/Austin is limited; there are only a few flights a day on American and Continental, so scheduling is often difficult and sometimes the flights are full,” Eltife’s Chief of Staff Cheryl Vanek wrote in an email to Local 2. “The flights go through Dallas or Houston and there is small commuter jet for the Tyler leg, which tends to get full even if a larger plane to Dallas or Houston has seats.”

The average cost for flights Eltife took averaged about $2,329. Eltife reimbursed the state for about half of each flight. Eltife pointed out that of the remaining amount, the state would have to pay $500-$600 for a last minute flight on a commercial airliner.

See estimated costs when someone uses the state’s private fleet to travel elsewhere.

“The reason he chooses to reimburse the state for half of the cost is because he realizes this service is more expensive than commercial air (although booking on American or Continental at the last minute is pretty expensive as well),” Vanek wrote.

Other state lawmakers use commercial air service or drive to and from Austin during the state’s legislative sessions, according to a small survey done by Local 2 of Texas lawmakers.

Eltife said he has flown on a friend’s private plane from Tyler to Austin, but usually takes commercial air service because the beginning of the legislative week is predictable and tickets can be purchased in advance.

What do you think about this story? Tweet @JaceLarson using #PrivatePlane.

Have a tip about government spending? Email investigative reporter Jace Larson at jlarson@kprc.com or call him at 832-493-3951.

Copyright 2013 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Advertisement

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the Terms Of Service and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms.